Feud with Ching Ling Foo Chung Ling Soo

the cosmopolitan, pub. 1903.

in january 1905, soo in london engagement @ hippodrome. rival, magician ching ling foo, performing @ nearby empire theatre. time, foo aware chung ling soo william robinson , had copied virtually entire act. publicly called chung ling soo imposter , became intent on publicly exposing him such. in order garner publicity, foo s promoter publicly announced duplicate @ least half of chung ling soo s illusions prove real original chinese conjurer . soo accepted challenge , agreed meet foo @ offices of weekly dispatch press conference. when ching ling foo realized press not interested in chung ling soo s real identity, refused attend press conference , backed out of challenge. episode public embarrassment ching ling foo, played @ empire theatre 4 weeks (chung ling soo s engagement @ hippodrome lasted 3 months).

soo s famous illusion, partly because of death while performing it, called condemned death boxers . in trick, soo s assistants, dressed boxers, took 2 guns on stage. several members of audience called stage mark bullet loaded 1 of guns. attendants fired gun @ soo, , seemed catch bullets air , drop them on plate held in front of him. in variations, pretended hit , spat bullet onto plate.